The core retention rate was 89.5 percent for the second quarter compared with 91.9 percent a year earlier, and the company sees the rate staying under pressure in the coming quarters.

Though it added 18 new clients on a gross basis for its equity analytics products in the period, the highest number since the third quarter of 2007, “lower retention rates are more than offsetting the new sales activities”, the company said.

Revenue related to equity portfolio analytics products fell 7 percent to $31.6 million in second quarter.

“The weakness is more evident in the asset manager category where spending cuts have continued and in the broker-dealer category where a number of firms have scaled back their proprietary trading activities,” Chief Executive Henry Fernandez said on a conference call with analysts.

The company said client cancellations totaled about $11 million in the quarter.

MSCI said the frequency of client inquiries and the “tone of client dialogue” improved during the second quarter, but this had not contributed “meaningfully” to additional subscription sales.

MSCI also said it is looking to hire about 100 people, largely in its sales organization and data factory, with about three-fourths of new employees expected in its locations in emerging markets, including Mumbai, Monterrey, Budapest and Hong Kong.

As the hiring will take place over the next several months, it may take a couple of quarters “to realize the full expense impact,” Fernandez said on the conference call.

MSCI said its global market share of equity exchange traded funds (ETFs) grew to 27 percent on June 1, from 23 percent on March 1.

The company, which was spun off from Morgan Stanley (MS.N) in 2007, said it completed its physical separation from the investment bank in May.

For the second quarter ended May 31, MSCI’s net income grew 5.3 percent to $19.6 million, or 19 cents per share.